Link building is one of the most essential features of SEO. If handled correctly, it can help improve your website’s search engine ranking and increase traffic to your site. This beginner’s guide will cover what SEO link building is and how you can acquire links for your website. So whether you’re a complete beginner or just looking for a refresher course, read on for all the information you need to start building high-quality links today!
What is Link Building?
Link building is acquiring links from other websites to your own. A “link” is simply a way for one website to say, “this other website is also good/useful/trustworthy.” Linking to another website can be done in several ways, such as:
- Writing an article or blog post and including a link to the other website within it
- Creating a resources page on your website and linking to the other website from there
- Mentions – if you get mentioned by another website (perhaps they’ve written about you), there’s a good chance they’ll include a link back to your site
Why is SEO Link Building Important?
Link building is essential for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for several reasons:
Link Popularity
All else being equal, a website with more links pointing to it will rank higher in the search engines than a website with fewer links. This is because links are one of the many factors that Google and other search engines use to determine how to rank websites.
Link Equity
Links pass along “link equity,” a vote of confidence from one website to another. Linking to a high-quality website passes along some of that trust while linking to a low-quality site can hurt your own site’s reputation.
Link Diversity
Linking to various websites (not just your own) signals to the search engines that you’re not trying to game the system by only linking to your sites. A healthy link profile will include links from a variety of different sources, such as:
- Articles and blog posts
- Social media profiles
- Forum and discussion board posts
- Free and paid directories
- Guest posts on other websites
How to Build Links?
There are many ways to build links, but some methods are more effective than others. Here are a few link-building tips:
Write High-Quality Content
This is perhaps the most important tip on this list. If you want people to link to your website, you need to give them a reason. That reason will almost always be great content relevant to their interests.
Promote Your Content
Once you’ve written that killer article or blog post, don’t just sit back and wait for people to find it. Promote it! There are several ways to do this, such as:
- Social media: share your content on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.
- Link roundups: many blogs feature weekly or monthly link roundups, simply lists of interesting articles and blog posts from the past week or month. Getting featured in one of these roundups can send massive traffic to your site.
- Guest blogging: write a guest post for another blog in your industry. Make sure to include a link back to your website within the body of the article.
Reach Out To Other Websites
If you see a website that would be a good fit for your article or blog post, reach out to the webmaster and tell them about it. They may be interested in featuring your content on their site, providing you with a valuable link.
Create Helpful Resources
Websites that offer helpful resources (such as downloadable ebooks, whitepapers, infographics, etc.) are often linked to other websites. Creating these types of resources can be a great way to build links.
Link Internally
Linking to your articles and blog posts from other pages on your website is a great way to boost the SEO of those individual pages. It’s also helpful for visitors, allowing them to navigate your site easily.
Final Thoughts
SEO Link building can be complex and time-consuming, but it’s essential to any SEO strategy. By following the tips above, you can start building valuable links that will help improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
